How to stay healthy throughout the summer with some great fish choices on your plate

The idea of sharing my knowledge about fish with you came recently, as I was enjoying my early morning walk on our impressive Jumeirah path. I came across Umm Suqeim Fish Market, with its massive variety of freshly caught fish, and decided to explore it a bit more.

I was pleased to see that all the fish was reasonably priced and, more importantly for me, there was a vast selection of small (and healthier) fish on offer. Are you wondering why I mentioned ‘the small fish’? Well, I’m hoping that after reading this article you will become more knowledgeable about your fish choices. You will learn that not all fish is equal and discover why you should be concerned about the amount of mercury from that delicious looking tuna steak.

Why do we eat fish and why is it recommended for athletes?
If you’re eating fish, besides its taste, you are probably doing so to take advantage of their beneficial omega-3 fats. But what exactly are they?

Omega–3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids because humans cannot make them; therefore, they must be obtained through diet or supplementation. They offer numerous health benefits for everyone, as well as a variety of performance-enhancing effects, such as increasing muscle growth and improving strength and physical performance. They can also reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and delayed-onset muscle soreness, combat the negative immune effects of intensive training, strengthen bones, improve heart and lung function, and enhance cognitive functioning.Omega-3 fatty acids are important for brain development of the in-utero and growing child. Higher IQs in children have been linked to higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids consumed during their mother’s pregnancy.

There are three types of omega-3 fats. Marine animals such as fish and krill provide eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are mostly promoted for their protective effects on your heart. Flaxseed, chia, walnuts, virgin olive oil, avocados and a few other foods, on the other hand, offer alpha-linoleic acid (ALA).

Most of the health benefits linked to omega-3 fats are linked to the animal-based EPA and DHA, not the plant-based ALA.

Furthermore, ALA is converted into EPA and DHA in your body at a very low ratio. What this means is that even if you consume large amounts of ALA, your body can convert only a relatively small amount into EPA and DHA, and only when there are sufficient enzymes.

Ideally, you want to include both an animal and a plant-based form in your diet.

When it comes to choosing between the animal-based omega-3 options, the primary options are fish oil, cod liver oil or krill oil.

Why is mercury a major threat when eating fish?
If you’re not careful, the toxic effects from the pollutants in the fish will outweigh the benefits of the omega-3 fats.

Before scientists became aware of the toxic effects of mercury (it poisons the kidneys and nervous system), this seemingly magical metal was widely used in medicine, cosmetics, and different industries. Even small amounts of mercury can interfere with brain development, making exposure particularly risky for children younger than six and women in their childbearing years. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 75,000 babies are born each year with a greater risk of learning disabilities because of their mothers’ mercury exposure.

Eating contaminated fish is the number one cause of mercury exposure in America. Mercury is spewed into the air from coal-burning power plants and factories. That pollution can travel halfway around the world and then settle into lakes, rivers, and oceans, where it is absorbed or ingested by small organisms before working its way up the food chain. Big predatory fish, like sharks or tuna, can have especially high concentrations in their bodies. The larger a fish is, the longer it has lived and the more time it has had to bioaccumulate toxins like mercury from the ocean.You can’t see, smell, or taste mercury contamination in fish. Cooking has no effect on it, and you can’t avoid it by cutting off the skin or other parts of the fish.

Fish to avoid
Tuna is the most common source of mercury exposure. If you or your kids regularly eat canned tuna, stick to light or skipjack tuna, and limit it to less than two servings a week. The rules change when it comes to albacore tuna. Children should avoid that fish altogether, and women of childbearing age should stick to no more than four ounces per week.
The contamination may be even worse in restaurants. The reason for this is because restaurants tend to favour certain species of tuna, such as bluefinakami and bigeye tuna, which have significantly higher levels of mercury than bluefin and yellowfin tuna. Unfortunately, mercury tends to accumulate to a greater degree in muscle than in fat, rendering these highly prized, leaner species of tuna more susceptible to high contamination. As for canned tuna, albacore has been found to contain about three times more mercury than light chunk tuna.

Other few key species to avoid: King mackerel, merlin, shark, swordfish, tilefish.

Industrial farming
Industrial fish farming, or aquaculture, is the fastest growing form of food production in the world. About half of the world’s seafood comes from fish farms, including in the US, and this is expected to increase. At first glance, farmed fish may seem like a good idea to help protect wild seafood populations from overfishing.In reality, however, the industry is plagued with many of the same problems surrounding land-based concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), including pollution, disease, and inferior nutritional quality.Many farmed fish are fed genetically modified (GM) corn and soy, which is a completely unnatural diet for marine life. Others are fed fishmeal, which is known to accumulate industrial chemicals like PCBs and dioxins.

Fish waste and uneaten feed litter the sea floor beneath these farms, generating bacteria that consume oxygen vital to shellfish and other bottom-dwelling sea creatures. Farmed fish waste promotes algae growth that harms the water’s oxygen content, posing risks to coral reefs and other aquatic life.

Farmed fish may contain fewer healthy fats
Fish in the wild, especially oily fish such as salmon, are a rich source of omega-3 fats. But levels of critical omega-3 fats may be reduced by about 50 percent in farmed salmon, compared to wild salmon, due to increasing amounts of grain feed.That being said, farmed salmon are much fattier overall than wild salmon with much higher omega-6 fats (unfavourable pro-inflammatory fats, if the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio exceeds 1:1).
Farmed tilapia and farmed catfish also have much lower concentrations of omega-3s and very high ratios of omega-6 fats to omega-3 fats.

What Are the Best Fish to Eat?
Among the safest in terms of contamination, and the highest in healthy omega-3 fat, is wild-caught Alaskan and sockeye salmon. Neither is allowed to be farmed, and are therefore always wild-caught. The risk of sockeye accumulating high amounts of mercury and other toxins is reduced because of its short life cycle, which is only about three years.Additionally, the bioaccumulation of toxins is also reduced by the fact that it doesn’t feed on other, already contaminated species.
A general guideline is that the closer to the bottom of the food chain the fish is, the less contamination it will have accumulated, so other safer choices include smaller fish like sardines, anchovies, and herring. Sardines, in particular, are one of the most concentrated sources of omega-3 fats, with one serving containing more than 50 percent of your recommended daily value.They also contain a wealth of other nutrients, from vitamin B12 and selenium to protein, calcium, and choline, making them one of the best dietary sources of animal-based omega-3s.

Krill oil and why my family loves it
There is a smarter and superior choice when it comes to Omega-3 supplements.Most fish oil supplements are highly perishable due to the lack of antioxidants. When fish oil turns rancid inside your body, it leads to free radical formation.However, there is a much smarter choice available!

Krill oil comes from krill, a tiny shrimp-like creature that lives in the pristine waters of Antarctica. Krill feed on plankton floating on the ocean’s surface.Krill oil contains high amounts of beneficial omega-3 fats EPA and DHA. But what sets it apart from fish oil is that its omega-3 fats are in a much more absorbable form that’s ready to be used by your body.

Here’s another reason to choose krill oil: it’s rich in antioxidants, meaning it will not become rancid inside your body and will not lead to free radical formation. One of the most powerful antioxidants in krill oil is astaxanthin, a unique marine-source flavonoid that bonds with EPA and DHA, making them more bioavailable. Also, because krill is at the bottom of the food chain, it does not accumulate mercury, unlike large fish species. There is also no danger of over harvesting krill, since Krill is actually the largest biomass on Earth, so there is a very large stock of renewable krill for both natural predators and humans.

My family loves Krill oil from Dr. Mercola, because they allow you to track where the krill oil came from in the Antarctic Ocean, as each batch of krill is carefully monitored all the way through, from catch to sale.

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Tips
• Avoid any large or farmed fish altogether
• Consume fish with a handful of chlorella tablets. The chlorella is a potent mercury binder and if taken with the fish it will help bind the mercury before you are able to absorb it, so it can be safely excreted in your stool.
• Obtain the perfect balance by including fresh fish several times a week, include sea vegetables like kelp, use flaxseed or walnut oil as salad dressings and opt for grass-fed animal products over grain-fed products.


Words + Photos by: Ivana Chiles

Ivana has been living in the UAE for 16 years. She is a qualified Health Coach and member of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Her passions are nutrition, organic gardening, healthy cooking and homemade organic skin care. She runs weekly workshops on the above topics. For more information, visit her Facebook page, Health Powerhouse.